High Above The Rest
by Avery444
Summary: He could not breathe, Thanos had a hold on his neck and could probably snap it as easily as his arm. Loki felt like he was floating from the lack of oxygen, his arms fell limp. Thor's shouts in the back of his head drifted away. Oneshot


-Thanos does not kill Loki when he attempts to stab him, but he does hurt him badly leaving him close to death.

-My self indulgent Loki whump also fixing the 'death' scene. Which I do not acknowledge as canon.

* * *

Loki was desperate to get Thanos away from Thor, his plan with the Hulk only worked for a few minutes before the titan smashed the Hulk into the floor. Loki was out of options, Thanos had acquired the tesseract and was going to get the other infinity stones.

Loki offered his guidance to Midgard but Thanos only laughed. His last resort was the blade he held in his hand.

"I assure you brother, the sun will shine on us again." He said with a weak smile. He could see Thor's eyes begging him not to go through with it.

He lunged at the titan but was frozen in place by the power of one of the infinity stones. Thanos grabbed his arm flinging the blade to the floor and with a hard squeeze he snapped Loki's arm making the god scream. Loki could hear Thor's muffled cries of anger through the gag. He was lifted up by his neck, the god grasped desperately with his hands ignoring the agony of his arm trying to free himself.

He could not breathe, Thanos had a hold on his neck and could probably snap it as easily as his arm. Loki felt like he was floating from the lack of oxygen, his arms fell limp. Thor's shouts in the back of his head drifted away.

Then he was dropped to the ground on his bad arm, he gasped for breath ears ringing while pain struck through his body. Loki saw Thanos' dark smirk before he was kicked hard several yards into the wall across the room. He felt his body smash into the metal, bones probably crushed from the impact. He was dragged back by his legs to the titan's feet by one of Thanos' children.

Loki was grabbed up by his hair, Thanos smirked at the sight of blood running down his forehead and mouth, his body limp and broken. He could still hear Thor's protests muffled by the gag.

"Goodbye Loki of Asgard." He said before using brute force to smash Loki's body into the floor, denting it badly. Thor screamed in rage seeing Loki's limp form not moving.

Then Thanos and his children dispersed back to their ship, setting their only way of escape on fire. Thor was freed and weakly crawled over to his brother. He laid a hand on Loki's shoulder pushing the younger over on his back. Blood stained his lips and face, the mangled body was bent in ways it should not be. Thor gently put his hand to his brother's neck feeling the weak pulse under his finger. Hope filled him knowing Loki was still alive. "Loki…" He whispered.

Then a burst of light swept the two of them away along with Banner. Thor saw Heimdall free them from the ship before it took them down with it. Thor grabbed Loki's body holding him tightly against his chest shielding him from any further injury.

* * *

The landing was rough but Thor broke Loki's fall using his back, he could not say the same for Banner who was moaning in pain next to them.

Thor saw two people standing above them looking down into the crater they had made. He immediately recognized one as the human sorcerer he had met a while ago. Thor jumped up from the crater, still weak as he sat on the floor with Loki's unmoving body pressed against his chest.

Banner had begun to talk to the two people, from what Thor could hear he was telling them about Thanos.

Strange came over to Thor motioning for him to put Loki down. Thor laid his brother's broken mangled body on the floor supporting his head carefully. Thor watched as Strange's hands moved over Loki's body assessing the damage.

"What happened to him?" He asked. Thor sighed "Thanos attacked him, he was trying to protect me." The god said.

"Is there someplace he can rest?" Thor asked the man. Stephen nodded before they were transported to one of the bedrooms. Loki had been placed on a bed, Steven had stripped him of most of his clothing leaving the wounds visible.

Thor grimaced at the sight of Loki's wounds, the younger god had fallen unconscious before they left the ship which was probably for the best. He watched as the sorcerer's magic began moving the broken bones back into place. Thor stroked Loki's sweat damp hair, watching his ashen face for any movement.

Strange glanced at Thor as he worked deep in concentration. He never had tried to heal someone with wounds so grievous, people were usually dead if the wounds were this bad but Loki was a god so he guessed that made him much hardier than mortals. Still, the god had been incapacitated considerably by the attack. Any healing powers Loki may possess had been badly weakened to the bare minimum of keeping him alive.

Stephen stopped, his breathing hard, that had taken a lot out of him and he did not know if Loki would make it anyway.

"Strange, is my brother going to live?" Thor asked him, so much pain in his eyes. Stephen sighed, "I moved the worst breaks back into place and closed the most severe wounds, I am not able to do much more today since my magic is depleted. I don't know if Loki will survive, his condition is critical but I am hopeful since he survived this so far." Stephen said.

"Thank you Strange, you are forever in my debt." Thor told him eyes shining with relief. "He still needs much care, and is not to move from bed. I will be back later to check on him." Strange said before disappearing.

Thor sighed once he was left alone with Loki. "Brother why did you do it? You knew there was no chance in killing him." He asked the unconscious god. He wrapped the wounds with bandages to keep them protected before pulling a blanket over his brother's broken body. Thor gently wiped the blood from Loki's mouth and face with a wet rag.

* * *

A little while later Banner came in after knocking lightly on the door. "Thor? You alright buddy?" He asked walking over to the bed.  
"I am fine Banner, it is Loki who I am worried about." Thor said looking down at his brother's still form.

"I saw what he did, it was very brave but very stupid. It seems like he was trying to do what you would have done." Banner observed.

Thor looked shocked at this before realizing Banner was right. "Loki should have known my instincts are rarely right. Planning before action is usually Loki's strength."

Banner shrugged, "Things change, though I think Loki was more concerned with your life than his own." He said.

Thor stayed in the room refusing to leave Loki alone, he would pace the room for hours sometimes falling asleep but always forcing himself to wake. Banner would come in every so often bringing him food and water.

It must have been over a day when he heard the door open, he turned around seeing Stark following Banner into the small bedroom.

"Hey Point Break, long time no see." Tony said as he came over to him. Thor gave the man a strong hug. "It is good to see you as well Stark." Thor said.

Tony looked down at Loki's motionless body on the bed, the only movement was the weak rise and fall of his chest.

"Bruce said you guys had an awful time trying to get here. Ship blown up by some evil space titan and all that. Is there anything you need Thor? You can stay with me if this place creeps you out at all. It definitely creeps me out." Tony said looking around the room.

"Thank you for the offer but we are fine here. Loki is too weak to be moved anyway." Thor said looking back down at his brother.

"Yeah, how is he? The strange wizard downstairs said Loki's not doing so well." Tony said as he began walking around the room.

"Banner didn't do that to him did he? Cause if he did I totally apologize." Tony said, sarcasm rolling off his tongue.

"Tony!" Banner whispered harshly.

"No Banner its fine. If Stark thinks my brother's condition is a joke I will be glad to discuss it with him…outside." Thor said darkly, sparks flying from his clenched fists.

Bruce got in between the two. "Okay guys! That's enough! Tony we've kind of had a rough couple of weeks. Loki's on our side now and he was trying to save us from a certain death. Thor, you know Stark is an ass don't be so sensitive. Anyway Loki would hate anyone fighting for his honor."

This made the two back down. Thor sighed sitting back down in his chair by the bed obviously still very worried about the state of his brother.

"Yeah, sorry, just a little freaked out by all the news." Tony said apologetically as he paced the foot of the bed.

* * *

Hours passed, Strange came by again to check Loki's wounds which had not improved much.

"He stable for now but not getting any worse which is good." Stephen told Thor as he let his magic soak through Loki's motionless body. It had been almost two days since they had arrived on Earth. The other Avengers had been notified of the incoming attack and were preparing for battle.

Loki made a soft whimper of pain, his eyes flickering open. Thor was immediately over him. "Easy Thor, give him some air." Stephen said watching cautiously.

They watched as Loki tried to make sense of what was going on, the pained expression on his face very pronounced.

Once he tried to push himself up with his arms was when Thor stepped in, gently pressing him back into the bed.

"Stay still, you were hurt badly." Thor said softly, Loki looked up at him eyes foggy with pain.

"W..water?" He asked, his voice weak and raspy from disuse.

Steven conjured up a glass into Thor's hand. "Not too much." He advised Thor who nodded.

Thor gently tilted Loki's head up letting him take small sips off the water through his chapped lips. Thor set the glass on the bedside table not taking his eyes off his brother.

"What…happened?" He asked softly. Thor looked at Stephen, earlier the man had told him not to answer Loki's questions when he awoke. It would stress him out too much and not be good for his injuries.

"You were injured in battle, but your safe now." Thor told him, gently stroking his hair. Loki seemed too exhausted to argue with Thor's vague answer and within a few minutes he fell back asleep.

* * *

When Loki woke up again the next day he was alone. Looking around the unfamiliar room he assumed he was in Midgard. He tried to move but severe pain overwhelmed his body at any attempt to sit up making him clench his teeth to hold back a cry. He saw his body wrapped with bandages, arms laying useless at his sides.

Loki's recent memories were a blur, he had no idea what happened or how he even got here. He heard the door open and a man came in. Loki recognized him as the sorcerer that had trapped him in some spell a while ago.

He tried to sit up quickly to defend himself but gasped in agony as pain forced him back down. "Easy, I'm not going to hurt you." The man said calmly.

"Your brother brought you here critically injured, you shouldn't be moving around." He said as he stood over Loki, making the god feel small.

Loki felt the sorcerer's magic soak into him, soothing and healing his wounds. Loki watched the man's face blurring and out of focus. He was exhausted from attempting to sit up, which frustrated the god to no end.

"You should have let me die." Loki whispered, in obvious agony.

"You think that's the first time someone said that to me? Sorry, but Thor would probably killed me if I let you die." Stephen said with a small smirk.

"I've lived over a thousand years, I believe I earned my honorable demise." Loki said with a weak smirk.

"Brother, you don't wish to see Thanos defeated after all he's done to you?" Thor asked, obviously he had been eavesdropping on the conversation as he entered the room unannounced.

Loki glanced at his brother, too tired to argue with his sore throat. Thor gently stroked his face in brotherly concern, Loki was much too quiet for his liking. He knew his brother was weakened, he saw the dark bruises around the smaller man's throat that stood out harshly on the pale skin.

"How are his injuries?" Thor asked Strange. Loki seemed to have zoned out of the conversation, staring blankly into space as he slowly drifted back to sleep.

"He's healing slowly, I can say he's doing much better than when he arrived. The fact that he's awake and talking is very good. Any human that came in with these injuries would have been dead in seconds." Stephen told Thor, trying to lift his spirts.

Thor smiled, "Loki's always been strong willed, death is not something he would succumb to easily. He's a strong fighter though he never really enjoyed physical combat growing up, preferring sorcery and bargaining, probably a much safer route."

"You said he attacked Thanos head on. That doesn't sound like him at all from what you described." Stephen told Thor.

"I guess it was a desperate situation, we were out of options. But I still don't understand how he thought that it would be to our advantage." Thor said sadly as he shook his head.

* * *

As the next few days went by Loki continued to heal, Thor made sure he stayed in bed although the god was getting quite restless.

Thor knocked softly on the door before entering the room, Loki was propped up against a few pillows reading a book that Strange had loaned him. He did not look up at Thor so the book must have been good.

"How are you feeling brother?" He asked, taking a seat by the bed. Loki looked up at him, still pale and tired looking. The cuts and bruises on his face had faded quite a bit but he still moved slowly.

"Fine, brother. I wish to leave this bed but you and Strange seem to be content on keeping me prisoner." The younger said with a sneer. Thor was just happy his personality was returning, it had been scary to see Loki so unresponsive and in pain. Thor only wanted to keep his brother safe.

"It seems like you're getting along better with Stephen." Thor observed.

Loki made a face. "He's only happy I am too weak to cause any trouble for him. I could definitely show him a thing or two." The younger said with a smirk thinking about defeating the doctor.

"Loki, you are in no condition to be sparring. Stephen only wants you to heal." Thor said as he shook his head at his brother's competitive nature, which reminded the god of himself.

Loki sighed, setting the book down before lying back down to rest. "You rest Loki, I promise that creature will never hurt you again." Thor said adamantly before leaving to prepare for the impending attack.


End file.
